Trifles: A Moral Justification for Murder
The one act play “Trifles” depicts the views and passions of both men and women during the late-nineteenth century regarding the role of a woman. The characters in the play are the County Attorney, the Sheriff, and Mr. Hale, who are accompanied by Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters into the Wright’s home to investigate the murder of Mr. Wright. The men feel that the women are only concerning themselves with little things and make several condescending comments throughout the play displaying their views. While the men search for clues upstairs and in the outside barn yard, it is the women who cleverly piece together several clues leading to Mrs. Wright’s guilt in the murder mystery. But, because of the shocking evidence found by the women, they become sympathetic towards Mrs. Wright and decide to conceal their findings from the authorities. The women feel that the mental and emotional abuse Mrs. Wright received from her husband was justification for the crime in which she committed. Although murder is usually looked upon as an indefensible crime of selfishness, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters actions were morally validated because of Mr. Wright’s own selfish and tyrannical actions; which left Mrs. Wright with no other alternative but to murder him in order to reclaim her liberty.
From the beginning of the play, when Mr. Hale explains to the other men that he was visiting the Wright’s home in hopes of convincing John Wright to pitch in on a party line, stating that, he did not know if Mrs. Wright’s wants meant any difference to Jon, the audience gains an idea of the magnitude in which Mr. Wright isolated his wife. While Mr. Hale is recounting the details of the incident, the men decide to continue their investigation upstairs convinced that there are only domestic items downstairs of no importance. Before leaving for upstairs, the Sheriff makes a comment, “Nothing here but kitchen things” (Glaspell 1338), which shows how insignificant the men felt that the domestic area was to their investigation. In the meanwhile, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, the wives of Mr. Hale and the Sheriff, are left in the kitchen area to gather a few items for Mrs. Wright, while she is in jail awaiting the investigation.

Mrs. Peters began looking through the closet for Mrs. Wright’s requested items, while Mrs. Hale spoke of how much Mrs. Wright had changed since childhood, “Wright was close. I think maybe that's why she kept so much to herself. She didn't even belong to the Ladies Aid. I suppose she felt she couldn't do her part, and then you don't enjoy things when you feel shabby. She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir. But that--oh, that was thirty years ago” (Glaspell 1340); this statement implies to the reader that Mr. Wight was the main cause of Mrs. Wright’s solitude and unhappiness.
While the women continue to gather items, they notice details such as a roughed up bird cage, and an unfinished, poorly stitched quilt which begin to piece together the story leading up to Mr. Wright’s murder. Mrs. Hale begins to feel guilty imagining the loneliness Mrs. Wright must had felt living alone with cold Mr. Wright without even a child to keep her company for so many years. She confesses to Mrs. Peters, “I could've come. I stayed away because it weren't cheerful--and that's why I ought to have come. I--I've never liked this place. Maybe because it's down in a hollow and you don't see the road. I dunno what it is, but it's a lonesome place and always was. I wish I had come over to see Minnie Foster sometimes. I can see no--” (Glaspell 1342). Still puzzled about roughed up cage Mrs. Hale begins to question Mr. Wright’s likely feelings toward his wife having a bird. In response to Mrs. Peters saying she heard he was a good man she replies, “Yes--good; he didn't drink, and kept his word as well as most, I guess, and paid his debts. But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters. Just to pass the time of day with him-- Like a raw wind that gets to the bone. I should think she would 'a wanted a bird. But what do you suppose went with it?” (Glaspell 1342). Although they were still puzzled as to why there was an empty roughed up bird cage; the women decided to look for sewing materials; figuring that Mrs. Wright will appreciate them bringing the quilt for her to work on. Upon looking in the closet, Mrs. Peters comes across a pretty red box which she opens only to discover a dead bird. She cries, “Somebody—wrung—its neck” (Glaspell 1343), and at that moment the motive for Mr. Wright’s murder was clearly revealed to anyone who was compassionate enough to see it.
Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters began to realize the state of oppression that Mrs. Wright was living in; and though knowing that murder is usually an unethical crime, they believed that it was Mr. Wright’s own actions which internally killed Mrs. Wright many years ago. The women show sympathy towards Mrs. Wright’s unfortunate life and relate their past life experiences to the stillness and emptiness that Mrs. Wright endured for several years of her marriage. In the process they also discover that it was Mrs. Wright who was truly the victim all alone; which morally justifies their actions of concealing the evidence. Unlike the men in this play, the women are able to use their emotional and clever minds to fit together the pieces to the mystery.

Works Cited
Gaspell, Susan. "Trifles Study Guide & Essays." Gradesaver. Ed. Bella Wang. ClassicNote, 23 Aug. 2009. Web. 8 Oct. 2012.
Glaspell, Susan. "Analysis of the Play "Trifles"" Ed. Nicole Smith. ArticleMyraid (2011). Web.
Glaspell, Susan. "A Literary Analysis of Glaspell's Drama "Trifles"" Yahoo Voices. Ed. Metropolis Flowers. Yahoo, 4 Apr. 2007. Web. 6 Oct. 2012.
Glaspell, Susan. "Plot Summary of Trifles by Glaspell." Plot Summary of Trifles by Glaspell. Fall 2011. Web. 08 Oct. 2012.
"Glaspell, Susan. "Trifles." Literature for Composition. Ed. Sylvan Barnett, Wlliam E. Cain, and William Burto. 9th ed. Pearson. 1336-346. Print.